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Friday, February 24, 2012

An urgent Lenten appeal for Malcolm *UPDATED with new numbers a video link

This precious little boy has very little time and hope left to find a home.

(picture removed for privacy)

I first read about Malcolm on Carla's blog, Bringing Henry Home. Now, it's time to bring Malcolm home. Carla has the story on her blog, but in a nutshell, Malcolm is about to turn five. Unless he is placed with a family by April, he will be transferred to an institution with older boys and adults, where he will surely be lost. Here's the paragraph that breaks my heart:

Malcolm needs family badly. He is very emotional, sensitive and not a leader by nature and is being hurt by older and physically healthy children in the orphanage. He can hardly walk but retains sensitivity in the feet. There is a chance only in the presence of caring and loving parents Malcolm can walk independently in a future but in the orphanage environment the child is afraid of everything even walking. Malcolm has a favorite little toy: stuffed tiger, he carries it everywhere, he kisses it, puts to sleep, worries about it. Malcolm is interested in all new, he knows the names and colors, understands commands, has attachments to friends in a group, he goes on contact easily and is pleased to dialogue.

Keep in mind, the bullying happening now is in the baby orphanage (ages 0-5)! There are families who are considering adopting Malcolm and bringing him home to the US. But raising the huge sum needed to get him from Russia to his new home is an unfortunate obstacle, as we can all imagine.

Lent is a time of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. It's the almsgiving part that can really trip us up. I know it does me. But today, I donated to Malcolm's fund, sacrificially. Nothing is truly ours; it all comes from God -- including our money. I'm telling you that I donated (and yes, I'll tell my husband the amount later, gulp) in order to challenge you to do the same. Any amount really, even five dollars, would be so important to this one precious child. Please Bubble readers, let's do this for one lonely little boy and for the love of God. We are Christ's hands and feet.

Please consider little Malcolm's desperate plight as you consider your almsgiving on this first Friday of Lent.

Thank you, thank you, and blessings!

Mother Teresa -- Just one person at a time

"I never look at the masses as my responsibility.

I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time.

Just one, one, one.

You get closer to Christ by coming closer to each other. As Jesus said, "Whatever you do to the least of my brethern, you do to me."

So you begin...I begin.

I picked up one person --

maybe if I didn't pick up that one person I wouldn't have picked up 42,000.

The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if I didn't put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less.

Same thing for you

same thing for your family

same thing in the church where you go

just begin...one, one, one."

Words to Love By, p. 79

**Update: As of this writing on Friday evening, Malcolm's fund has reached $3,686.72! Thank you all so much, and let's keep the momentum going. Now, we need to find parents for this sweet little boy. If you haven't seen him walking and talking, please click here for a video. He is absolutely precious! I can't bear the thought of him going to a mental institution for older kids and adult men, simply because he's turning five years old. God bless you for all your help and God bless Malcolm with a family, soon!

21 comments:

Just to clarify...there a few families interested in Malcolm, but none have committed yet...but a decent sized grant fund is always a HUGE encouragement for a family to make the LEAP OF FAITH that is international adoption!!!

I also will be telling my DH about our donation later today (double gulp!!)

Donated for sweet Malcolm, and am offering up my Lenten sacrifice for him today! Would anyone like to join in petitioning our Lord today at 3:00 with a Divine Mercy prayer that a family will step forward soon for Malcolm?

I so wish we could bring him home. I know he would fit in well in our family, but dh is not quite ready for adoption...yet...praying on that one....

Please, also, pray that more Catholics will see the need for special needs adoption and get involved in some way.

Leila, so excited that you posted this, as this hits home close to my own heart.

My brother and sister in law are also adopting a little boy from Russia in the same circumstances. Unfortunately for him, he has turned 5 and is in the institution. He has CP, and they are sooo excited to bring him home! (As are we!) If you could pray for them at this time, they have everything ready on their end but are waiting anxiously for the "ok" to go get him but unfortunately are forced to wait...the original time to get him was March, but now it sounds like May. They are very disappointed and worried for him, exactly for the reasons that you stated before about the bullying. Prayers for Alex's safety and well-being would be appreciated.

And, donated for this little boy too! I wish I could bring them all home!

Becky, oh my goodness!! My heart just aches for them, thinking of their little boy in the institution!! I will pray! Please keep us up to date (email me or comment back here when they finally get their boy!)

Meantime, thank you everyone, and please keep donating even though we reached the $2500 goal! This puts him in a better place to be seen and adopted, but he still needs a family to commit and the total for the whole adoption (including the required three trips to Russia with both parents) is about $35,000. Please, let's keep going! Thank you all so much!!!

It hurts my heart to think of little ones, Malcolm and others, who are without the safety and love of mothers and fathers. What is it like to not be kissed good night and tucked safely into bed? To have no one to fend for you? I wish I could bring him home. It's a shame adoption costs so much.

Dear Mother Mary, can you please enfold these small children in your arms? I hope they feel and know the love you showed to Baby Jesus and all of us in your spiritual care.

I'll leave it to someone else to explain to non-Catholics reading this blog how by praying to Mary I am not worshiping her or whatever the Mary objection is. We know this little one needs a mother's love and a father's protection. Right now, we have to put these little ones into spiritual care until earthly care can be found.

I am so touched by Malcom. I watched the video several times. It sounds like they are calling him "Marak" in the video. I think this is a common name in Russia. I donated, but wish I could just go get him. Does anyone know why you have to go visit THREE times to adopt him? This seems like a huge hurdle for any family.

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Mystical Rose

Pray for us!

I love clarity. I love logic. I love Truth.

Greetings!

I am Leila Miller (pronounce it "Layla"), a 40-something Catholic wife and mother of eight children, whose ages span from 23 down to 4. Two of our children are married, and I recently became a grandma!

I often tell folks that I love my "little Catholic bubble" of faithful friends and family. It's where I choose to live, in relative peace and joy.

However, the "bubble" is not exclusive! It's open to everyone.

I relish engaging the wider culture, and I do have a lot of opinions. If you read this blog, you will hear them.

Politically, I am a conservative. Theologically, I am a faithful Catholic who loves apologetics. For fun, I like to make matches between devout Catholic singles.